Archer classes?

[Nyaoista]

As much as I enjoy the 2-3 range of a Longbow, I don't care for Virion or Noire (as characters, they might be fantastic archers for all I know /bias), so I was wondering if anyone else is particularly good as a reclassed archer class?

[Interceptor]

Archer as a class is pretty horrific (unless you are playing Lunatic+), but the best one is probably Morgan. Specifically, a FemvatarxChrom Morgan. Has nothing to do with Archers, and more to do with being the best at pretty much everything.

[Florete]

Yeah, the big problem with Archer is that they have worse offensive stats than just about every other Bow-wielding class (lolDef) and only get Longbows in exchange. I've not used anyone other than Virion or Noire in that class set, but I have found Noire to be pretty good as an Archer/Sniper, or as effectively good as the class can really be. Virion tends to not want to gain any Spd when I use him.

In general, any unit with a good Str/Spd combo will probably be good as an Archer. And they really don't need to worry about hitting considering Skl +2, Prescience, and Hit Rate +20, because someone decided Archers/Snipers weren't hitting often enough.

[Djing]

Archers need galeforce. Otherwise they'll be vulnerable in wide open spaces.

[HeroMystic]

Archers has and always will be the worst class in the Fire Emblem series, though I haven't played Lunatic+ yet so I'll see if my tune changes then.

As for who would make good archers why would you do that to yourself? D: Noire is easily your best bet due to handmedown skills. Morgan is in the same boat. Archers care more about having good skills than anything else.

[Nyaoista]

I feel like I should have expected the "archers suck!" responses lol.

Thanks for the input though. ^.^

[Renne]

I...think there's another bow that's also archer-class exclusive, but looking at the website, doesn't seem like that's worth that much either. Double Bow is one? But that's probably negligible with other weapons available to other classes that can use bows...

I personally don't use Archers either, but I also heard that Noire turned out decently / pretty good as a Sniper. However, I actually have my Inigo as a Sniper on my Normal file (Stahl!Inigo) and he's not too bad... granted I haven't really used him actively than as a support for Olivia. ^^;; Still, he can hold his own though.

I think the thing with Archers is also that they can't really protect themselves if someone attacks them. I mean I know they're not supposed to be on the frontlines like Mages, but at least Mages have 1-2 range than solely 2-3. Or you can do like an above poster said, Galeforce and a pair-up partner to either run away after killing someone and/or switch over to their partner?

Edited May 2, 2013 by Cordelia

[YoungXehanort]

I like archers, but they are too fragile.

[Othin]

If you're doing postgame or anything else allowing grinding, you should do fine with anyone you like who has access to the class. But if not, as sounds like the case, the extreme difficulty in raising bow weapon ranks on the enemy phase will make it insanely difficult for any other character to be effective in the class.

[euklyd]

Archers need galeforce. Otherwise they'll be vulnerable in wide open spaces.

This. Gaius|Noire with Galeforce, Luna, and Astra kills anything she attacks, then Galeforces to safety. There are better class choices, but this is quite fun.

[Nyaoista]

I originally just accepted the fact that I wouldn't have any archers, since I didn't like the two available without reclassing, but I had Stahl as a sniper for a bit, and I miss those longbows sometimes lol.

While I haven't beaten the endgame yet, I do have a few DLC maps I could use for some grinding if necessary.

Galeforce does sound like a nice addition to an archer class though. Not sure why that hadn't even crossed my mind.

[Sasori]

I really like archers and I always try to use one, but this time I just couldn't be bothered to try one. Virion starts out awfull and I haven't recruited Noire yet.

I'm also a little annoyed how awfull their skills are. Skill +2, skill cry and accuracy +20 are all pretty much worthless and bowfaire is only decent on Assasins and Warriors, but going trough level 15 sniper is not very appealing.

[Deshiva]

In this game archers work better as support, atleast they can fire back during 1 range attacks if they dual attack.

[Airship Canon]

Chrom is a solid Sniper, if you're looking for a Sniper.

However, Morgan (M), Jamke (Spotpass), Seliph (DLC), Camus (Spotpass), or Jaffar (Spotpass) make the best possible Snipers.

Why?

Galeforce/Aggressor/Counter/[bowfaire/Limit Breaker]/[Proc(Astra/Luna/Sol)/Pass/Armsthrift]

[paladin21]

I think the faire skills should offer a bit more. I'd make them look like this:

• Swordfaire: +5 STR/MGC, can counter at range 2 (only counter, not attack)
• Lancefaire: +5 STR/MGC, gets an additional strike when attacked at range 1 (the attacks would be [enemy-lancer-lancer-second strike of the fastest one], or [lancer-enemy-lancer-second strike] if used with Vantage)
• Axefaire: +5 STR/MGC, critical hits deal more damage (damage x4 instead of x3 on critical hits)
• Bowfaire: +5 STR/MGC, can counter at range 1 (only counter)
• Tomefaire: +5 STR/MGC, adds tome might to defense

The reason to increase the bonuses is that I think that Level 15 skills shouldn't be outclassed so easily by DLC skills (All stats+2 and later Limit Break). This way you'd want to have this skills in your set. I didn't even care about them without the DLC skills since I found them too weak for a level 15 skill. I find the +5 damage with one weapon type is even worse than STR+2 on a character with two weapon types, which are actually all of them. The extra bonuses I gave the weapons, either grants them a significant boost (lance and axe) or nullifies one of their weaknesses (sword and bow range).

[Vashiane]

I actually love using bows, so naturally, archers are a plus.

Chrom is an amazing archer/sniper. It's a bit of a disappointment, retiring Falchion for a bow, but holy cow does his damage output make up for it. In fact, he's probably the best archer you'll get until you snag a hold of Morgan or Noire.

[Tamanoir]

Archers need galeforce. Otherwise they'll be vulnerable in wide open spaces.

I think that Pass is more usefull on that regard.

[paladin21]

I actually love using bows, so naturally, archers are a plus.

Chrom is an amazing archer/sniper. It's a bit of a disappointment, retiring Falchion for a bow, but holy cow does his damage output make up for it. In fact, he's probably the best archer you'll get until you snag a hold of Morgan or Noire.

Why would you have him as a sniper when he could be a bow knight and keep hold of the Falchion and still use bows? For other characters being able to use longbows may be an asset (specially forged when in combination with Armsthrift), but I think Chrom loses more than what he gains, the regular Falchion is quite good, but the Exalted shouldn't be missed.

[GrantCaine]

I really like snipers despite what I hear from a lot of places. 3 range attacks are just too great.

I made Cynthia a sniper (Father is Chrom), her damage output is insane with Galeforce and Aether. She works very well tag teaming with other characters, she can kill something then swap, and the sniper's high skill stat means a higher support attack probability.

[Samias]

I think that Pass is more usefull on that regard.

Better yet, use both Pass and Galeforce and you'll pretty much never get boxed in. But bows + Galeforce are a good mix on someone who can use more than one weapon type, like a warrior, assassin, or bow knight to have a better weapon to counter on the enemy phase.

Generally I find archers more helpful early on, especially with a stock of renown that's high enough to get a longbow right away. Considering it has the strength of a steel bow and you can get one as early as chapter 4, that's pretty insane for Virion so long as you can get him up to C rank bows by that point (not too hard). While Virion has poor bases and growths that seem to be less reliable than you'd hope, by the virtue of the early longbow he actually can do quite a number on enemies, especially in the pseudo defence chapter 6. I was blessed enough in one run to pick up an Underdog bow in chapter 1, which Virion can use right away, and because the bosses always outleveled him, Virion could take some pretty reliable potshots on the bosses that hit harder than anyone short of Frederick. You could say sparkling tiles could benefit anyone, but Virion is one of the most improved when you don't restrict renown use on your run.

There isn't really much reason to keep Noire as an archer, though. She comes past midgame when other people might have bows on-hand already and enemy density is building up, making archers somewhat of a pain to protect especially in the large number of maps that are open fields. She's better than Virion, but the usefulness of the longbow is kind of lessened since the number of high def units skyrockets at the point of the game when Noire's paralogue opens up.

[Deshiva]

Im happy i got my noire luna, also lethalithy for fun... XD

[euklyd]

Better yet, use both Pass and Galeforce and you'll pretty much never get boxed in. But bows + Galeforce are a good mix on someone who can use more than one weapon type, like a warrior, assassin, or bow knight to have a better weapon to counter on the enemy phase.

This is why Jaffar was basically the only Spotpass/DLC unit I used in any of my first ~150 hours of play (over multiple files) - Assassin w/ Pass + Galeforce. He's a killing machine that almost begins to approach his level of lethality in FE7 (no pun intended).

...at least, the level of lethality I remember him as being at. I was much younger then, and had missed training many of my other units, so Jaffar was downright godly when I recruited him.

[GrantCaine]

Pass for an archer seems like a waste of a skill slot to me, there isn't really a conceivable situation where they should be boxed in unless you do something weird like deploy them alone and run into the middle of a big group.

[Darros]

I...think there's another bow that's also archer-class exclusive, but looking at the website, doesn't seem like that's worth that much either. Double Bow is one? But that's probably negligible with other weapons available to other classes that can use bows...

The Towering Bow, IIRC, is also limited to archer classes only. Though it has 2-3 range, it only has 10 uses, so it's nothing that even is really in their favour.

[Interceptor]

Pass for an archer seems like a waste of a skill slot to me, there isn't really a conceivable situation where they should be boxed in unless you do something weird like deploy them alone and run into the middle of a big group.

Here's a situation that you can conceive: a Lunatic+ run where a large number of enemies spawn with Counter, and you need to play the delay game. An Assassin (or other bow-using class with Pass from a previous life) can disarm a dangerous group of enemies by face-tanking on a forest/fort. Bows allow you to have a weapon equipped without killing yourself on Counter. Pass allows you to keep from getting boxed in, and snipe enemies with dangerous skill combinations like Hawkeye/Luna+.

Without Pass, you need a 1-range option (dangerous with Counter enemies) or a adjacent partner.